Alternative Emergency Response Program Development Checklist

The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL) has supported 32 jurisdictions to establish or expand alternative 911 emergency response programs, which have the potential to connect individuals in crisis to teams of unarmed responders trained to de-escalate situations and connect individuals to community-based services. Often, when we begin our work in a jurisdiction, program staff can feel overwhelmed with the task at hand. We frequently hear questions like, “Where do I start?” and “What steps do I need to plan for?” From our work over the past four years, the GPL has identified common steps that jurisdictions typically take to build the foundations of an alternative response program.

This tool provides an operational checklist of these tasks, which program managers and other staff can use to guide their work and assess their progress. It includes 26 steps toward program development, which are organized into eight sections based on relevant stakeholders for each one: operational strategy and vision, community and stakeholder engagement, sustainability, data collection and evaluation, communications, equipment and capital needs, staffing and capacity building, and dispatch. This list is not exhaustive and will be updated as more jurisdictions implement alternative response programs.

Who Should Use This Tool?

The full tool will be most useful for program managers and staff charged with spearheading the development of an alternative response program. Consequently, it will likely be most helpful in jurisdictions that have decided to create a program and have taken the necessary initial steps toward program development, including passing authorizing legislation, allocating an initial budget for a pilot program, and identifying staff to lead program development. However, policymakers and practitioners exploring alternative response can use this tool to anticipate key steps in program development, and practitioners in jurisdictions already running these programs can use this tool to validate their program’s development.

How Should I Use It? We have seen alternative response program managers and staff use this checklist successfully in multiple ways. Some keep the checklist format and use it as a high-level progress tracker. Others transfer the checklist into their preferred project management software and assign tasks to their staff. We encourage you to adapt this tool to fit your team’s needs and working style. Similarly, while this tool outlines common tasks, you will likely have to customize this checklist based on your unique program and jurisdiction characteristics. In general, we have seen it be helpful for program managers to refer to this checklist once a week throughout program development.

What Order Should I Go In?

Tasks are coded by whether they typically come in the early, middle, or late stages of program development. These timing indicators serve as guideposts, but the timing in which you complete tasks may differ. Additionally, you can and should make progress on many of these steps simultaneously, and you will likely benefit from revisiting and refining tasks once you have more information.

We recommend that you begin with the initial operational strategy and vision tasks: develop a clear vision, build internal partnerships, and plan a strategic timeline. This information will help you make smart decisions on other program considerations that align with your core goals. For example, a clear strategy and vision can enable you to choose strategic performance indicators that will help your program measure whether you are fulfilling your goals. Additionally, you should include stakeholder and community engagement throughout program development and operation to incorporate these perspectives in key programmatic decisions.

Program Development Checklist

This tool is organized into eight sections:

• Operational Strategy and Vision
• Community and Stakeholder Engagement
• Sustainability
• Data Collection and Evaluation
• Communications
• Equipment and Capital Needs
• Staffing and Capacity Building
• Dispatch

Each section includes the key stakeholders to engage in decision-making, and program development tasks and sub-tasks. Tasks are color-coded by their timing in the implementation process. Some sections include additional resources to guide program planning.

Download the Checklist